Updates

About our Signatories

Here we’ve detailed some of the individuals who have signed our Open Letter.

Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University, and former Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestine, UN Human Rights Council.Hedy Epstein, Holocaust survivor; St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee*; Jewish Voice for Peace – St. Louis**, Free Gaza Movement. She founded a St. Louis chapter of the Women in Black and has been very active in the Palestine Solidarity Movement.Iyad Burnat, Palestinian grassroots activist, Bil’in Popular Committee. He has led weekly demonstrations since 2005.Bassem Tamimi, school teacher and a leader of the Palestinian Popular Resistance Movement in Nabi Saleh.Samia Khoury, founding member of the board of Trustees of Birzeit University and Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre, author, “Reflections from Palestine: A Journey of Hope” (descendant of Birzeit University founders).Ann Wright, retired US Army Colonel and former US diplomat turned peace activist; passenger on 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla; co-organizer and passenger on Gaza Freedom Flotillas 2011 & 2015; co-organizer of 2009 Gaza Freedom March.Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, Professor, Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities, Co-Founder Al-Awda-Palestine Right to Return Coalition. He is the director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and the Institute for Biodiversity Research. He previously served on the faculties of the University of Tennessee, Duke, and Yale Universities.Paul Findley, former US Congressman, Illinois, author of “They Dare to Speak Out,” the first book on the Israel lobby.James Abourezk, former Senator, South Dakota, founder of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)Pete McCloskey, former Member of Congress (R..Calif. 1967-83) and Co-Founder, with Paul Findley, of the Council for the National Interest; and Helen McCloskeyArun Gandhi, Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.Abbas Hamideh, National Board Vice Chair, Al-Awda Palestine Right to Return Coalition, son of one of the few survivors of the massacre at Deir Yassin Palestine on April 9th 1948John Whitbeck, Director, Council for the National Interest, is an international lawyer who who specializes in conflict resolution and writes frequently about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Dr. Khalil Nakhleh, author of “Globalized Palestine: The National Sell-Out of a Homeland”, he has worked and taught in the United States and in Palestine.George N. Rishmawi, Director, The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People, Beit Sahour, Palestine. Mr Rishmawi is a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and a co-Founder and Steering Committee member of the Nonviolence Network in Arab Countries.Ray McGovern, Retired CIA officer turned peace activist. Co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. He leads the “Speaking Truth to Power” section of Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington.Rita Giacaman, Professor, Research & Program Coordinator and founder, Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University; active in 1980s Palestinian social action movement.Edward Peck, Americans for Middle East Understanding, Former US Ambassador to Iraq & Mauritania, Participant in the 2010 Gaza Freedom FlotillaPhilip Giraldi, Former CIA Officer turned anti-war activist & journalist; Executive Director, Council for the National Interest*, member, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for SanityCindy Sheehan, anti-war activist and former presidential candidate, editor of Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox. She is an antiwar activist whose son, Casey Sheehan, was in Iraq and is a co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace.Joe Meadors, USS Liberty Survivor, Past President, USS Liberty Veterans Association, Participant in three Gaza Freedom Flotillas, Free Palestine Movement*.The Rev. David W. Good, Minister Emeritus for The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, President: Tree of Life Educational FundJohn Erickson, NorCal Friends of Sabeel* Erickson is executive director and co-chair of the NorCal Friends of Sabeel, a project of Friends of Sabeel North America. Previously, he practiced poverty law with legal services, civil rights law with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and civil rights and public interest law.Sunaina Maira, Professor of Asian American Studies at UC Davis, USACBI (US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel), author of “Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New York City” and “Missing: Youth, Citizenship, and Empire After 9/11”.The Reverend Canon Richard K. Toll, former Director, Friends of Sabeel*, Retired Episcopal Priest, served as board chair of FOSNA (2000-2011). He was Canon Pastor of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, and was awarded 2 honorary degrees for his effective commitment to justice and peace in the Holy Land.Dr. Samir Abed-Rabbo, Professor Emeritus of International Law, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies. He is the director of the Center for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Brattleboro, VT and the former Dean of the Jerusalem School for Law and Diplomacy.

Lawrence Davidson, Professor Emeritus, West Chester University, author of “America’s Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood”, “Islamic Fundamentalism”, “Foreign Policy, Inc.: Privatizing American National Interest”, co-author with Arthur Goldschmidt of the “Concise History of the Middle East” and most recently, “Cultural Genocide”.Elizabeth Murray, former Deputy Intelligence Officer for the Near East, National Intelligence Council and is a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

Donald A. Kruse, Retired Foreign Services Officer, Consul, Consulate General, Jerusalem 1976-1980. Mr. Kruse served on the boards of American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), Partners for Peace, Pilgrims of Ibillin, Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding (EMEU), and HCEF.

James Petras, Professor Emeritus (Sociology), Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY. He has a long history of commitment to social justice, working in particular with the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement for 11 years. In 1973-76 he was a member of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Repression in Latin America. He has authored numerous books, including “Unmasking Globalization: Imperialism of the Twenty-First Century”.Joel Kovel, author of “Overcoming Zionism,” “White Racism,” “Red Hunting inn the Promised Land”, “The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism or the End of the World?”, “White Racism: A Psychohistory” and other books; editor; former psychiatrist; Bard College professor emeritus.Ernest Gallo, President, USS Liberty Veterans AssociationRonald Kukal, USS Liberty Survivor: Petty Officer in Charge of the Body Recovery and Identification after June 8, 1967 attack

David Rovics, Folk Musician, American Federation of Musicians Local 1000, an American singer/songwriter and an outspoken critic of George W. Bush, the Republican Party, and the Democratic Party and supportive of Palestine’s struggle for freedom.Mary Ratcliff, Editor of San Francisco Bay View National Black NewspaperAbdallah Omeish, award-winning documentary filmmaker of “Occupation 101” and “The War Around Us”, which was awarded Best Documentary Feature at the Newport Film Festival in 2012.Andrew Kilgore, former Ambassador, publisher, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, providing facts on Palestine for over 30 years. Kilgore has extensive experience with refugees and displaced persons beginning in 1949 and had a long career of foreign service, including U.S. ambassador to Qatar.Janet McMahon, Managing Editor, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, author, “Seeing the Light: Personal Encounters With the Middle East and Islam”.Kathleen Christison, Author, “Perceptions of Palestine” and “The Wound of Dispossession”; Co-author “Palestine in Pieces”. Kathleen is a former CIA political analyst and has worked on Middle East issues for 30 years.Jerry Levin, former CNN network journalist. Christian Peacemaker Teams. He writes on nonviolence, with an emphasis on the Middle East and in particular Palestine and Israel. Recognized by the Dalai Lama as one of 2009’s “Unsung Heroes of Compassion”.